Aircraft

Virgin Atlantic Airways is looking at extending the deferral of its first Airbus A380 delivery into 2009. The carrier is unhappy that a six-month slippage in the A380 delivery schedule, announced by Airbus in June, would see the 550-seater aircraft join its fleet in the third quarter of 2008, rather than the peak summer season. As a result, a launch around the summer 2009 season is being considered.

Virgin Atlantic, which has six of the ultra-large airliners on order, with options for six more, originally planned to take its first A380 in 2006. This was pushed back to early 2008 last year due to concerns about airport readiness and whether cabin equipment suppliers could meet tight deadlines for new interior designs.

The carrier is in discussions with Airbus on the cabin specifications for the aircraft and is still unhappy with the situation at Los Angeles airport, despite its revised plan to handle the A380 in a remote part of the airport. In a worst-case scenario, Virgin Atlantic predicts that it could take the A380 40min to reach its stand after landing there.

Like other A380 customers, Virgin is still talking to Airbus about compensation for the delayed deliveries.